Communities in British Columbia are still waiting to recover costs incurred from two large fuel spills, which happened in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Vancouver and the Vancouver Aquarium are waiting for $700,000 in compensation related to a leak in bunker fuel, while the Heiltsuk Nation in Bella Bella is looking for $200,000 for a tugboat spill from 2016. The funds being asked for were spent by the communities on oil spill cleanups. Ship owners in Canada are strictly liable for spills, though the government maintains a Ship Source Oil Pollution Fund to provide compensation when the company cannot do so. Vancouver has asked the company involved — Alassia NewShips Management — for compensation and Alassia has since filed a claim with the Ship Source Oil Pollution Fund. The Vancouver Aquarium has also been negotiating with Alassia, yet the company only offered 20 cents for every dollar spent, which Peter Ross of the Vancouver Aquarium described as “unacceptable.” Similarly, the Heiltsuk Nation has been negotiating with Kirby Offshore Marine, but nothing has been settled, the Canadian Press reports.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers could ease up on output cuts before the end of the year, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday. “The agreement lasts until the end of the year. In June, we can discuss, among other issues, a question about a reduction of some quotas during this time, if it is expedient from the market’s point of view,” Novak said ahead of the Joint OPEC/Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Novak’s view stands in contrast to Saudi Arabia’s goal, which three industry sources said is to allow output controls to push oil above $80 or even $100 a barrel. Novak’s comment was clouded when sources close to JMMC said Novak privately told the OPEC-led cartel Russia is committed to the deal on cutting crude output until the end of the year, Reuters reports.

While OPEC members gathered in Jeddah, U.S. President Donald Trump slammed the group in a tweet Friday, saying “artificially” raised prices would “not be accepted.” His comments came after the Brent Crude price reached US$74.62, the highest point in years. “Looks like OPEC is at it again,” Trump wrote. “With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea, Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!” The New York Times has more.

Trudeau’s environmental vision only extends to the next election, writes Michael Harris in iPolitics. “He is desperately trying to keep one election promise, getting a pipeline to tidewater, while hoping that Canadians will forget another — that any energy project would have to pass a better environmental assessment process than Stephen Harper’s.”